Careers

In the spring and early summer of 1984, I watched two teen-agers in the selection process for the U.S. Olympic boxing team who looked to me like future superstars. As it turned out, neither made the Olympic team that year--1984 was too soon for them. But both left the impression that they were champions in early development. One was Mike Tyson, a 17-year-old pounder from Upstate New York who was still learning to box. An unpolished diamond.

April 22, 2014 | By Mike DiGiovanna, This post has been updated. See the note below for details.

WASHINGTON - Some 18,000 men have played major league baseball since 1876, and only 26 of them have hit 500 home runs in their career. Albert Pujols joined that exclusive club Tuesday night when he crushed career home run No. 500, a two-run shot to left-center field in the top of the fifth inning off Washington pitcher Taylor Jordan in Nationals Park. Pujols hit his 499 th homer in the first inning, a towering three-run shot to left field off Jordan, and No. 500, which gave the Angels a 6-2 lead, cleared the Angels' bullpen in left-center.

If you're facing years of student loan payments but aren't making much money because you're working in public service, the federal government has some good news for you. A law that takes effect Tuesday could allow you to have some of your college debt forgiven.

Prince Bandar bin Sultan's replacement last week as Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief has fueled speculation about a shift in the monarchy's shaky relations with the United States and its position toward the Syrian conflict - not to mention about the prince's political future. Yet many political experts and pundits believe Bandar's departure will barely affect Saudi foreign policies. And they say it's possible the prince could return to the political scene stronger than ever. “The last person to be relieved of his duties [in 2012]

When Armando Melendez was a 5-year-old boy growing up in El Salvador, he fell under the sway of a crazy uncle who had futbol on the brain. Instead of taking Armando to school in the mornings, Uncle Oscar would secretly spirit the boy off to a park for soccer practice. Long before he could read or write much, Armando knew how to caress a leather ball with his instep, how to make the bouncing sphere obey his will.

August 29, 1999 | JANET WISCOMBE, Janet Wiscombe is a frequent contributor to The Times who last wrote about professional beach volleyball for the magazine

Sally Ride doesn't look like a woman outrageous enough to sit on top of a stack of enormous flaming rockets. There's absolutely nothing about her refined appearance or manner to suggest she has the grit to travel into the great, dark, airless abyss strapped to the seat of a hurtling piece of machinery. She's small, reserved, a reluctant heroine uneasy with eminence, a self-possessed but distant star who navigates her rarefied universe with quiet control.

Four years ago, Egan L. Badart was a successful, hard-driving real estate agent. He lived with his family in a 6,000-square-foot home with a swimming pool and an acre of ground in Pasadena. He had assets totaling "a little over $2 million." Then calamity struck. A perforated, cancerous colon incapacitated Badart for more than two years. Inexorably, his business and investments slipped away. He lost it all. The cars, the house, the money--even his family.

Fashion models over age 40 who once kept their gray at bay are rediscovering their roots--and capitalizing on a market with potential growth. U.S. magazines such as Mirabella, Lear's and Moxie (based in Woodland Hills), that cater to mature audiences, are filling their pages with, "women who weren't born yesterday," as the Lear's promotional line reads. And, even traditional high fashion magazines such as Harper's Bazaar are devoting more space to seasoned models.

Eight weeks ago, upon returning home from a Fourth of July weekend at the beach with his wife and daughter, actor Brad Davis pulled out a yellow legal pad and drafted a proposal for a book he never got the chance to write. "The purpose of this book is to reveal what it's like to be infected with HIV, to be receiving treatment, and having to remain anonymous at all costs--chronicling how I have done this for over six years," wrote Davis in spare and simple prose.

Tigers 5, Angels 2 KEY MOMENT: With runners on second and third and two outs in the top of the fourth inning, right-hander Max Scherzer struck out Erick Aybar swinging to end the inning and preserve a 3-1 lead. A hit by the Angels shortstop in that situation would have tied and changed the complexion of the game. BOX SCORE: Tigers 5, Angels 2 AT THE PLATE: The Angels managed only four hits, but two were home runs, a shot to right field by J.B. Shuck to lead off the game and a ninth-inning shot to left field that gave Albert Pujols 498. The Angels lead the major leagues with 29 home runs.

Award-winning producer-writer-director George Schlatter is a kind of P.T. Barnum of the small screen. An innovative showman, the 81-year-old Schlatter turned the comedy genre on its head with the hip, groundbreaking series "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (1968-73) and helped usher in the reality show format with "Real People" (1979-84) But that's not all, folks. He also created the "American Comedy Awards," produced countless TV specials, including "A Party for Richard Pryor" and "Sinatra: 80 Years My Way," and earned more than a few honors for his work, including Emmys and Golden Globes.

Ernesto Frieri felt as though John Jaso was late on his fastball, so with a 1-and-2 count and a runner aboard in the top of the ninth inning Monday night, the Angels closer, on to protect a one-run lead, tried to throw a two-seam fastball down and away to the left-handed hitter. Instead, the pitch was up and in, and for Angels fans who have followed Jaso during his five-year career with Tampa Bay, Seattle and now Oakland, they could almost predict what happened next. Jaso crushed a pinch-hit, two-run homer well beyond the high wall in right-center field to lift the Athletics to a 3-2 victory in Angel Stadium and spoil a night in which Angels left-hander Hector Santiago threw seven superb one-run, five-hit innings and Albert Pujols hit his 496th home run and a run-scoring single.

Emerging from the rubble of the Lakers' worst season since moving to Los Angeles was the story of someone who shall inherit the earth. Or at least a really nice pay raise. Jodie Meeks has been the Lakers' most consistent player, managing to avoid serious injury and continually putting in an honest night's work during a dreadful season for the franchise. He is averaging a career-best 15.6 points, almost double his output last season, but faces the same off-season question as almost everyone on the roster.

Sports is a star-driven business. In this town, baseball is about Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, about Clayton Kershaw and Yasiel Puig. But no team wins on star power alone. The supporting cast is critical. For the everyman in baseball, for the men that round out a lineup and a pitching staff, the celebrations and milestones are rare. On Saturday, the Angels were treated to one of those special moments. BOX SCORE: Mets 7, Angels 6 (13 inns.) Raul Ibanez reached 2,000 career hits.

When the Galaxy signed Swedish midfielder Stefan Ishizaki this winter, it had one specific goal in mind. “We needed to improve our passing in the midfield,” said Bruce Arena, the team's coach and general manager. “We do that, it allows us to get Robbie Keane close to the goal.” Three starts into his Major League Soccer career Ishizaki is already rewarding Arena's confidence, setting up Keane for the only goal the Galaxy would need in Saturday's 1-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps before an announced crowd 20,847 at StubHub Center.

In response to "Why Have Children When Careers Come First?" by Colman McCarthy, Commentary, Jan. 28: When was the last time the author gave up his career to stay home and raise a child? I am fed up with men (usually white and from the religious right) dictating policy regarding family matters, while the responsibility and burden for such falls upon women. My husband and I have gone to great lengths and expense to provide consistent, top-quality care for our children. The result is that they are perfectly well-cared-for, well-adjusted, happy and loved.

"How you doin', baby?" Marlon Wayans said, leaning down to kiss a doll on the lips. The toy, a prop from Wayans' latest movie, "A Haunted House 2," was propped up in a chair across the table from the actor at a stuffy Beverly Hills restaurant. The doll, named Abigail, was meant to resemble a creepy figurine from 2013's "The Conjuring": Both shared the same dead green eyes, sooty peasant dress and pigtail braids. Wayans, 41, has long been known for his outrageous comic taste. He dressed as a Caucasian female FBI agent in "White Chicks" and has been poking fun at the horror genre for years, launching the hit "Scary Movie" parody franchise in 2000.

No matter where he starts Sunday's race, veteran IndyCar driver Tony Kanaan believes he is sitting pretty. Kanaan, a fan favorite who won the Indianapolis 500 for the first time last year, was hired by the powerhouse team of Target Chip Ganassi Racing this year. The 39-year-old Brazilian took over the car formerly driven by his good friend Dario Franchitti, the four-time IndyCar champion who retired after being seriously hurt in a crash in Houston last October. Kanaan qualified second and finished sixth in the season opener March 30 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Sunday's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will be his second race driving Ganassi's No. 10 car. Kanaan has never won Long Beach and his best finish in 10 starts was third in 2009.